Text and design by KATHERINE BUECHELER, FAITH CHOW, ELLIE FITTON, ALEXA GWYN AND ISABELLA MOUSSAVI Photos by NATALIE SCHILLING
Planting a New Narrative Warning: This article addresses issues regarding mental health and suicide.
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very day at 7:00 a.m., sophomore Anton Tompert jumps straight into his morning routine: stretching and immediately leaping into an ice-cold shower. Minutes later, three eggs sit sizzling on the pan as two pieces of toast flop onto the plate. “Eating a good breakfast isn’t just a way to help me focus during the day, it makes me feel clear,” Tompert said. On top of his heavy workload at school, he tries to find ways to stay level headed. Returning home, he finishes homework and dedicates time to boost his well-being. Since deciding to make simple changes in his life, Tompert has begun reading, journaling, meditating and listening to podcasts instead of music. Physical health is also a crucial aspect to Tompert’s routine and he includes a workout every night, runs with the cross country team and consciously makes efforts to stay hydrated. “It’s really basic activities,” Tompert said. “Now it’s really easy to pick up good habits.” Tompert is one of the thousands of teens residing in Santa Clara County in the heart of Silicon Valley, home to countless high profile schools. Known across the nation for their academic rigor, this district and other surrounding communities have made a name for themselves in the media of cultivating highly academic and driven students. From national newspaper articles to a full-blown documentary, this media attention has made it widely accepted that these students face pressure like no other. Every year, Palo Alto schools take new measures to ease this increasing pressure, especially after the teen suicide clusters the community has faced in the past. A suicide cluster is defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to be three or more suicides occurring in a short time frame and in the same geographical area. Palo Alto has seen two clusters in the past 11 years, with six teens lost in the 2008-2009 school year and another four in the 2014-2015 school year. These clusters have gained national attention and prompted both the Palo Alto community and those outside of it to wonder what factors could have led to the loss of these adolescent lives. In the last six or seven years, media sites including The Atlantic, KQED and
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